Object

Troops' M-16

Troops carry the M-16 rifle on deployment, a detail Bartlet, Bruno, the base captain, C.J., and an assistant reference backstage at the Naval Warfare Center. This standard assault rifle underscores the mission's dangers as the group debates squeezing military benefits into Bartlet's speech, with the president halting the push to avoid politicizing active-duty personnel.

2 appearances

Purpose

Combat rifle issued to U.S. troops for deployment operations.

Significance

Signals the stark realities of military service, grounding campaign rhetoric in ethical constraints and the human cost of deployment.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S4E1 · 20 Hours in America Part I

Commander in Chief: Bartlet's Entrance and Moral Line

The M-16 is invoked by Bartlet as part of the troops' kit to emphasize the lethal seriousness of deployment and to justify refraining from political use of their service—a rhetorical object that raises stakes.

Before: Issued with deployed troops' gear, stowed for transport.

After: Still part of troops' issued equipment; conceptually present as evidence in Bartlet's argument.

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S4E1 · 20 Hours in America Part I

Refusing to Politicize the Troops Amid a Market Shock

The M-16 is invoked by Bartlet to make the danger and immediacy of deployment concrete; the rifle shifts the conversation from abstract policy to the reality of armed soldiers and their exposures if politicized.

Before: Carried by deployed troops as standard-issue weapons, staged for transport.

After: Unaffected physically; its mention increases the moral weight of Bartlet's argument against campaigning on the base.

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